Losing the plot
The formation of the second Devendra Fadnavis government had led to jubilation in the BJP camp. Even its embarrassing failure, the arrival and exit of Ajit Pawar, didn't cause much disappointment. There was a sense of self-righteousness the rank and file felt the Shiv Sena had betrayed the mandate of the people by joining hands with the NCP-Congress. So any skullduggery on the BJP's part was par for the course.
What did rankle, though, was the clumsiness of the operation. A section of party workers have started to question the political acumen of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and ex-chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. While Fadnavis, in his statement on November 26, took the blame on his shoulders, the responsibility for the fiasco stops at the door of Modi. That the prime minister invoked special provisions Rule 12 of the GoI (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 to end President's rule in Maharashtra and clear the way for the Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar tie-up
